The film has been considered an allegory about drug addiction, as well as an allegory of the theological concept of sin.[1] It contains philosophical, theological and other intellectual content, including references to Husserl, Nietzsche, Feuerbach, and Descartes. The film also features a vampire quoting the highly conservative Reformed Theologian R. C. Sproul, who is a critic of Roman Catholicism.

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Kathleen Conklin (Taylor), a young philosophy student at New York University, is attacked by a woman (Annabella Sciorra), who tells her "order me to go away" and, when the frightened Kathleen is unable to do so, bites her neck and drinks her blood. Kathleen develops several of the traditional symptoms of vampirism, including aversion to daylight, but the film's main focus is on her moral degradation. It is hinted that vampires become immortal in this film, but the price is an addiction to blood. Vampires are shown repeatedly resorting to the strategy of blaming their victims for not being strong enough to resist them. As one of Kathleen's victims weeps incredulously over the damage, Kathleen coldly informs her: "My indifference is not the concern here - it's your astonishment that needs studying." Eventually Kathleen meets Peina (Walken), who claims to have almost conquered his addiction, and as a result is almost human. For a time he keeps her in his home trying to help her overcome hers, recommending that she read William S. Burroughs' Naked Lunch. At her graduation party, she says "I'd like to share a little bit of what I've learned" she and her victims (now vampires themselves) attack the party goers, participating in a bloody, chaotic vampire orgy.

After the party, kathleen appears to be wracked with regret and wanders the streets. She ends up in a hospital and asks the nurse to let her die. The nurse says no one will let her die. Kathleen then decides to commit suicide by asking the nurse to open the window shades.

Kathleen is again confronted with the woman who first bit her, who stops her suicide attempt and quotes R. C. Sproul to her. Conklin gives in to her new fate as an immortal vampire. She is shown walking away from a grave with her own name on it, in broad daylight. Coincidentally, her birthdate on the tombstone is Hallowe'en, 1967. The date of her death is November 1, 1994. The movie ends with the line “self revelation is annihilation of self.”